


Familiar Faces

by Shadaras



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, I mean it could be Lando/Han that's fine too, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 18:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14899788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/pseuds/Shadaras
Summary: Han calls Lando on the way to Takodana to tell him that he's got theFalconback, among other things.





	Familiar Faces

Everyone else was asleep, lulled there by the thrumm of hyperspace engines and the exhaustion of a narrow escape. Han sat in the _Falcon_ ’s cockpit, absently running his hands along the controls. Whatever junkyard had kept it hadn’t changed anything major; a few new scuffs and scratches were par for the course, as far as he was concerned. Lando would have more conniptions over it, of course, but, well — that was Lando for you.

Han sighed. Fingers running on habit, he keyed in a comm code he could never forget, a private line that he and Lando had used for, fuck, something like forty years now. He hadn’t called lately, didn’t know what sort of schedule Lando was on — he barely kept track of what daylight hours were for Leia on D’Qar, sometimes, in the depths of his depression-fueled deep-space runs — but that wouldn’t matter. Lando might not pick up, but he deserved to hear that the _Falcon_ was back again.

Miraculously, Lando did pick up. The refurbished holocomm built into the dashboard lit up, projecting Lando from the chest up. Han gave a crooked smile and said, “You’ll never guess where I am.”

“That’s a leading line if I’ve ever heard one,” Lando said, peering at his own projection.

Han laughed, and widened the field of view on his end until it encompassed the entire cockpit.

“Well— Stars, Han, I thought we might’ve really lost her this time.” The wide smile on Lando’s face took off years, made him look like the young man he’d been when they first met. “Where’d you find her?”

“Jakku.”

Lando snorted. “Try again.”

“Space, but the kids who were flying her got her from Jakku.” Han pulled the projector closer in and leaned on the pilot’s seat. “They make me feel old, Lando.”

“I still don’t believe that our precious _Falcon_ ended up on Jakku,” Lando muttered. But he was quieter, running a hand through his own grayed hair. “Kids, Han?”

“Yeah.” Han shook his head. “About as old as we were, I guess. Used the _Falcon _to get off Jakku, and— fuck, I know the way they looked, Lando. I looked like that.”__

__“Which kind of ‘like that’?” Lando asked, voice dry and trying to avoid the seriousness. “Out of your depth?”_ _

__“Among other things.”_ _

__Han looked at the dice hanging on the _Falcon_ instead of looking at Lando, and Lando, miracle of miracles, didn’t press. It helped sometimes, having his best friend — other than Chewie, of course — be an administrator. He knew when to shut up and wait. Han closed his eyes and rubbed his face, slowly breathing out. Quietly, he said, “One of them looks like he just escaped war, and the other looks like she hasn’t had a solid meal in years. They’re both strong, the kind of strength you get because you’ve gotta survive.”_ _

__Lando sucked in a quick breath. “The Outer Rim’s still hard on its kids.”_ _

__“Yeah, well, you and Leia and the rest are doing your best.” Han uncovered his face and looked at Lando, in more quietly ostentatious clothing than he’d worn when they first met. “Finn says he’s Resistance, but he’s scared stiff as he says it. Doesn’t know how to bluff.”_ _

__“Gonna teach him to play sabacc?”_ _

__Han laughed. “I’m taking them to meet Maz.”_ _

__Lando whistled. “Definitely gotta teach him sabacc, then. Who’s the other one?”_ _

__“Rey. She’s... Jakku isn’t like Corellia, it’s not street kids, but all strays have a look about them. And I’ve helped enough get on their feet, now, to know that look when I see it.”_ _

__“You think they’re gonna go Resistance?” Lando asked. “If they don’t want to, I’ll take them. We’ve always got good work for bright young people.” Cloud City had one of the best apprenticeship programs in the galaxy; Han had helped Lando work out the best way to market programs to street kids and other orphans suspicious of wealthy hands offering money, and Lando kept a flock of adjustment counselors just to make sure that they adapted well to the honest life. Lando paused, and added, “Besides, you wouldn’t like them if they weren’t smart.”_ _

__“She flies the _Falcon_ the way I did when we were young.” Han winced, thinking about it. “She’s good. She’s gonna take years off your life, if she scuffs it up as bad as I did.”_ _

__Lando shook his head, but he was smiling. “A worthy successor, then?”_ _

__“I’m thinking about it.” Han reached up to pat the _Falcon_. “I’d need to make sure _she_ approves, too.”_ _

__“If they got her off Jakku, she’ll love them just for that. Just gotta keep it up.”_ _

__“Yeah. I hope they can. I hope they don’t run, like I did.”_ _

__Lando reached out a hand, as if he could touch Han. “My dear, you ran a hundred times before you found someone who was both honest and worth coming back for.”_ _

__“I’m just saying,” Han grumbled, but he still touched Lando’s holographic hand. “Fuck, I forgot to tell you— I’m taking them to Maz because they’ve got a droid — I think it’s Dameron’s? It’s been too long since I’ve had to keep track of Leia’s pilots — who found the last fucking part of Luke’s treasure hunt. Gotta plug it into the rest and then—” he waved his hands, wished he had a bottle to gesture with like in the old days “—poof, magically we’ll be able to get him back. Finally.”_ _

__“You sure?” All pretense of fun and games dropped. “Han, that’s— that’s wonderful.”_ _

__“Yeah. Just gotta run by Takodana first, get Maz to take a look at the kids — they’re something special — and make sure there aren’t trackers covering the _Falcon_.”_ _

__“Let me know how it goes.” Lando smiled again, softer this time. “And Han, dear, you don’t need to wait for dramatic events to call.”_ _

__Han scrubbed his face with his hand. “I know. Fuck. I should call ahead and tell Leia, too.”_ _

__“You thought of me first?” Lando placed a hand over his heart. “I’m honored.”_ _

__“Yeah, well, you remember being scruffy and scrabbling for every scrap you could get.” Han closed his eyes against sudden specks of moisture. “Leia’s got her grief, but you know what it’s like to fight to live.”_ _

__“Yeah,” Lando said, gently, eyes dropping for a moment. “That I do.”_ _

__Han worked up another smile, held up his hand as if he had a glass to toast with. “To another round, another game, and the next generation of fighters and fools.”_ _

__“May they survive and thrive better than we ever did,” Lando said, pretending to clink his equally imaginary glass against Han’s. “Call sooner next time, you old smuggler.”_ _

__“You’ve got my number too,” Han retorted. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”_ _

__“You’d better.”_ _

__Before Han could get in the last word, Lando disconnected the line, leaving Han alone with the _Falcon_ once more._ _


End file.
